Drawn This Way, Not That Way
by imaginarytoon1
Summary: Jessica Rabbit, wife of Maroon Cartoons star Roger Rabbit, isn't a bad guy…er, girl. She faces many problems every day like paparazzi and men who like her body instead of her personality. But there is one problem that's been a secret for a really long time. So far, no one knows anything about Jessica's secret and, to her, it's too shocking to be revealed.


**Hey, y'all!**

 **I'm so sorry for taking so long on writing stories that y'all have been waiting for. I'm officially a college student and I'm constantly getting a lot of homework. The homework is taking up a lot of my time and I'm having difficulty finding the right time to write** _ **Of Toons and Tragedies.**_

 **But since that I'm also experiencing a case of writer's block, I'm having a hard time to write the upcoming chapter for** _ **Of Toons and Tragedies.**_ **Despite of that, I'm going to post this semi-flash fiction story that'll help me get back in the habit of writing fan fiction stories for** _ **Who Framed Roger Rabbit.**_ **A user named "retro mania" PM'ed me a few days ago and requested me to write this short story and I'm going to give him some credit for this.**

 **So ladies and gentlemen of , here is** _ **Drawn This Way, Not That Way.**_

 **-imaginarytoon1**

 **PS: retro mania, I'm sorry for making you wait so long. I did say that I was going to work on this story on Friday, and I did, but because of college and mid-terms, it was hard for me to find the right time to write the story. Again, I'm sorry for making you wait for a while.**

…

 **DRAWN THIS WAY, NOT THAT WAY**

The sounds of applause and cheering filled the air in the Ink and Paint Club when the clock struck seven in the evening. Two seconds later, the sounds of human men whistling and howling were heard in the audience area. Many men who were too crazy to control themselves ran up to the stage, waiting for the next Toon performer with impatience and excitement.

Waiting behind the curtains was the Toon who was about to perform in just a few seconds. She listened to the excited chatter slowly fading into silence as the stage spotlight was aimed in the lower center of the dark blue stage curtains. While her human fans were waiting, the Toon glanced at the band of toon crows who were standing behind with their instruments. She nodded her head once, signaling them that it was time to start performing their evening song.

The Toon aimed her head as the band played the introduction to Ella Fitzgerald's _I've Got You Under My Skin._ Right after taking a deep breath and smoothing out her red strapless dress with her purple-gloved hand, the Toon stepped out from behind the curtain and began to sing, causing the human to immediately whistle and whoop loudly.

" _I've got you under my skin._

 _I've got you deep in the heart of me._

 _So deep in my heart that you're really a part of me._

 _I've got you under my skin._

 _I'd tried so not to give in._

 _I said to myself: this affair never will go so well._

 _But why should I try to resist when, baby, I know so well,_

 _I've got you under my skin?_ "

One man, who happened to be a tourist, asked another man as the Toon slowly danced on the stage,

"Who is that beautiful woman? She's got the voice of an angel!"

His companion looked at him and replied,

"That's the toon woman that I've been telling you about. Her name is Jessica Rabbit."

The Tourist looked the Other Man with confusion all over his face.

"'Rabbit'?" He asked. "But she's—"

"The woman's married to a toon rabbit…who happens to be a movie star."

"Ohhhhh, okay."

" _Don't you know, little fool, you never can win?"_ Jessica continued to sing.

 _Use your mentality, wake up to reality._

 _But each time that I do just the thought of you_

 _Makes me stop before I begin_

 _'Cause I've got you under my skin_."

Then after inhaling quickly, Jessica noticed that her legs were beginning to wobble. Acting like it wasn't bothering her, she continued to sing the next verse and danced down to the edge of the stage.

" _I'd sacrifice anything come what might,_

 _For the sake of havin' you near."_

Then immediately after singing that part, Jessica stepped and suddenly felt like she was losing her balance, causing the audience and one of the toon crows to look at her with concern and confusion. But with dedication and persistence, Jessica continued to sing, acting as if nothing was wrong.

" _In spite of the warning voice that comes in the night,_

 _And repeats and repeats in my ear,_

 _Don't you know, little fool, you never can win?_

 _Why not use your mentality…"_

Then, another strange thing happened.

Suddenly, Jessica felt like she was wearing multiple layers of clothing in the middle of a hot day. It was strange to her since the inside of the Ink and Paint Club was mildly cold. Despite of how strange the second feeling was, Jessica continued to sing.

"… _Wake up to reality?_

 _But each time I do just the thought of you,_

 _Makes me stop just before I begin,_

 _'Cause I've got you under my ski—"_

Unexpectedly, after stepping forward, Jessica felt like someone had pushed her from behind. As she fell forward, too many things were happening at the same time. She heard the band stop playing, the audience gasping loudly, air whooshing in her ears, the bottom of her shoes scraping down the edge of the stage, and a crashing table and glasses.

She must've blacked out for a second because Jessica found herself lying down on a broken table with a lot of humans looking at her. She even heard them talking to her…but they were sounding like they were talking in a fish tank full of water.

"Are you all right", "Are you okay, miss", "What's the capital of California", "May I have an autograph?" Some of the audience members asked.

After shaking her head and bringing herself back to reality, Jessica pushed herself upward with her hands and got back on her feet…as her legs wobbled again.

"Do you need help?" An audience member asked.

Jessica looked at him and replied,

"No. I got it. I can make it to my dressing room on my own."

Then, immediately after saying that firmly but politely, Jessica limped her way back to the backstage area and entered her dressing room. She closed the door and locked it after limping her way in. Jessica pressed her back against the door and slid down to the floor.

After a moment of panting in exhaustion, Jessica mumbled to herself,

"What just happened? This has never happened before! Oh my goodness, I'm burning up!"

Using the door and the knob as a bit of support, Jessica pulled herself off of the floor and looked at the only window that was in her dressing room. She limped her way towards the window, pulled down the blinds, and closed them. Then, Jessica limped her way towards her white make-up table, pulled out the chair from underneath, and sat down.

As she panted, Jessica fanned herself with her hand, desperately trying to cool down. She fanned and fanned and fanned…but unfortunately, to her disappointment, it didn't work.

Then, Jessica glanced back at the door and looked back at the window in nervousness. She had no other choice but to do this dreadful thing that she never even dared to do in public.

Jessica sighed, peeled off her purple gloves, and brushed her hair over her left shoulder. Hesitantly, she inched her hand to the top of her back and softly scratched upper half of her spinal cord area. Jessica scratched and scratched until she finally lifted up what she was looking for.

It was…A ZIPPER.

Slowly and carefully, Jessica pulled the zipper downwards and immediately felt the cold air blowing onto her.

But she didn't stop there.

Jessica peeled off the back of her body like it was the peel of an orange, exposing a thin toon body with very, very, very light cinnamon brown fur that was hidden underneath. Then, she brought her arms back in front of her and pulled her face off like it was a bank robber mask.

After sighing, Jessica dropped her fake toon human face and red hair and looked at her reflection on the make-up table mirror. She was no longer looking at an alluring red-headed toon woman. She was looking at a green-eyed, lop-eared toon rabbit with white hair (that was long like Fay Wray's) and very, very, very light cinnamon brown fur.

But Jessica didn't stop there.

As her eyes started tearing up, Jessica peeled the rest of her fake toon human body off of her like it was a sweater and a pair of tights. The more she peeled off, the more of her toon rabbit body was exposed. She continued to peel off her fake body until everything that was hidden underneath was exposed.

Toon rabbit Jessica had a mildly humanoid and feminine version of Roger Rabbit's body and her feet were definitely a little bit smaller than her husband's. Attached to her feet were stilts with toon human feet casts and metal rods that looked like parts of a skeleton version of a human leg. Jessica kicked them off like they were shoes, allowing them to drop down on the floor.

"Those things are so uncomfortable." She muttered.

Then, Jessica stared at her fake toon body and stilts in horror and shame before looking at the clothes that she was wearing right now. On her toon human body, Jessica wore her "signature" red strapless dress, long purple gloves, and pink high heels. What she's wearing right now was a very, very, very light pink button-up blouse, a gray A-line skirt, and a thin black belt. Jessica was wearing an outfit that any toon and human would wear instead of an outfit that exposed too much of her body…and she felt ashamed.

It wasn't the outfit that was making Jessica feel ashamed. It was the idea of hiding her true self underneath a disguise that was making her feel that way.

Jessica sighed in frustration.

"I had no other choice." She groaned. "Hollywood made me do this."

After looking at the window and the locked door again, Jessica looked at her reflection as tears began to roll down her face. She began to talk to her reflection like she was talking to a psychiatrist.

"I wasn't drawn to look like a toon human. The person who created me made me look like a rabbit because the Warner Brothers was looking for a female toon rabbit for Bugs Bunny. They wanted him to have a love interest like Mickey Mouse. But unfortunately, Bugs didn't want to have a girlfriend and I ended up getting tossed out of the Warner Brothers studio and moving into Toon Town. Famous Toons who lived in Toon Town had nice places to live in but Toons who haven't found their place yet lived in an area called the Toon Town Draft Town. It is a place where…like I said, a place where Toons who haven't found what purpose they serve and it is considered one of the most depressing places in Toon Town. I stayed in Draft Town for a few months and every day, I would walk in and out of there because I was looking for work. Most of the time, I would look for acting jobs but Hollywood already had two famous stars that were toon rabbits. It wasn't until one day when everything had changed way too quickly. I was reading a newspaper article about Betty Boop and several famous female humans when I thought about changing myself and getting the job that I wanted to have. I wandered around in the Toon Town Junk Yard and found some stilts, a wig, and a toon body molding kit."

At this moment, Jessica stopped herself and started taking several deep breaths. While she did that, more tears began to run out of her eyes and down her cheeks.

Then, after taking another deep breath, Jessica continued to talk to her reflection.

"It took a little while for me to create my toon human disguise but it was worth it. A couple of days later, after getting the hang of walking with stilts, I slipped my disguise on, added my make-up, and walked my way over to the Maroon Cartoons Studio. When the male humans saw me walk in, they were shocked…but they quickly grew attracted to me. To be honest, I wasn't used to having that much attention from anybody but I have made it that far with my disguise and I knew that there was no turning back. R.K. Maroon saw me and interviewed me for a few minutes…and thanks to him, I got an acting job. Despite of that, the acting job was part-time for me…meaning that I would only show up for a cartoon if the director needs me. I knew that I had to get another job so I decided to get a job at the Ink and Paint Club because I love to sing…a lot. After one audition, I got my position as a singer. I love singing at the Ink and Paint Club but sometimes I get a little frustrated with the men in the audience area. I don't like how they think of me as a bad girl or a women who seduces every attractive man that she sees. I'm not that kind of person. I'm really not."

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

"Mrs. Rabbit?" A deep voice called out from the other side.

Jessica gasped softly and called out, sounding like she didn't cry at all,

"Yes, Bongo?"

"The club's closing in a few minutes…and your husband is waiting for you outside."

 _Really? Is my honey bunny really waiting for me outside?_ Jessica thought.

"Oh, okay." She replied. "Well, tell Roger that I'll be out in ten minutes."

"Are you still recovering from what happened on stage?" Bongo asked.

"Yes, I still am."

"Okay. Well, I'm going back to Toon Town right now and I just thought about letting you know. Do you want me to keep the club door unlocked?"

Well, Bongo's certainly being a gentleman tonight.

Jessica cleared her throat.

"That would be wonderful." She replied. "I'll try to hurry up and tell Roger that there's nothing for him to worry about."

"Take your time, Mrs. Rabbit." Bongo said.

"Thank you."

After hearing the heavy pounding footsteps fade away down the hallway, Jessica exhaled loudly and looked at the pictures that were framing around her mirror. There were some pictures of herself and there were a lot of pictures of her standing next to Roger Rabbit.

The pictures of herself with Roger would usually make her smile but tonight was different. Jessica felt like she was carrying the whole world over her back while it grew heavier by the minute. In other words, she felt terrible.

Jessica sighed sadly as her tears began to tear up again. Then, she looked at her reflection and started talking to it like she did before her brief conversation with Bongo.

"I never told Roger about my secret." She said. "I never did. I never told Roger because of how much I began to adapt to my disguise, my jobs, and how other people were treating me. I have adapted so much that I sometimes forget the fact I'm not a toon human. I met Roger when I was called to play a brief role in one of his cartoons. When the cartoon was ready to go, I was heading out of the studio when I accidentally stepped on my dress and dropped some music sheets for an Ink and Paint Club performance. The sheets were flying everywhere in the studio and I was jumping and bending down a lot, wanting to keep the sheets organized. Roger saw me and helped me out. I then found myself stepping on one of the final sheets and Roger and I grabbed the sheet at the same time. Our hands touched…but Roger handed the sheet to me. We spent a few minutes talking before we went our separate ways. Later, on the same night, Roger snuck into the Ink and Paint Club and Bongo caught him wandering around in the hallway that led to my dressing room. I came out of my dressing room right when Bongo was about to throw Roger out. After allowing Roger to come in, we started talking again. During the middle of our conversation, Roger stopped what he was doing and frowned a little bit. I asked him if something was bothering him. Roger looked at me and asked me if I love to smile. I told him that I only smile when I'm happy. Then, he asked me if I was happy while we were talking and I told him that I was. After hearing my reply, Roger shook his head no, clearly showing me that he wasn't really convinced. Then, Roger started telling me some jokes. One by one, the jokes were growing funnier and funnier. When Roger told me his fifth joke, a laugh slipped out of my mouth and I smiled."

Jessica sighed and smiled as a tear ran down her cheek like a raindrop running down a window.

"After that night, my life changed forever. Roger and I started hanging out more and more and I would smile even more every time. Eventually, Roger proposed to me and we got married. During the wedding, I began to feel uneasy when I stepped into the church. It wasn't the marrying that I was worried about. It was my secret. I was afraid that my stilts were going to make me walk funny or trip…which didn't happen, thank goodness. When the wedding was over, I thought about the many conversations that I had with Roger. One of the conversations that stood out was the one about being truthful and having someone's back no matter what. I felt really terrible after thinking about it. I felt like I betrayed Roger…and I never found the courage to tell him about my secret. I'm afraid that if I'll break Roger's heart if I told him about my secret that I've been keeping from him for a long time."

Finally, at this point, Jessica couldn't take it anymore. More and more tears ran down her eyes as she started crying. For some reason, to her, it felt good to cry. Jessica felt like more than half of the weight on her shoulders have been lifted off as soon as her tears ran down her cheeks. She felt them run down her cheeks and drip off her chin like water from a leaking faucet. The tears stained her skirt throughout the moment of sadness, guilt, and shame.

Then, Jessica sniffled and wiped her tears off with the back of her right hand. She took a few deep breaths and sighed as she looked at her disguise…which was still on the floor in pieces.

Just as Jessica was about to reach for the stilts, she looked at an autographed picture of Roger Rabbit smiling his trademark smile. She felt the guilt coming back to her again and it made her sigh, shake her head, and say,

"I'm sorry, Roger…but some secrets…aren't meant to be revealed."

Jessica grabbed her stilts and slipped them on her feet…

 **THE END!**


End file.
